Alfred Walker (1834-1906) was a contractor, carpenter, and builder who built several historic buildings in San Luis Obispo in the 1870s.
Walker was born in 1834 or 1835 in Anson, Maine. Census records suggest that by 1867 he emigrated to California, where his son Herbert A. Walker was born in 1867. Voter registration records show him living in Santa Cruz, California, in 1868 and 1869. By 1872 Walker is working in San Luis Obispo.
Walker married Melissa L. Kleckner on August 22, 1885, and they had a son Blaine Walker, born in 1889. In 1900 he is listed on the census as living in Arroyo Grande, as an occupation of contractor. His son Herbert Walker died April 28, 1886.3
Later, Walker was associated with John H. Hollister and Frank Adams in conducting a bituminous rock street paving plant.1
In San Luis Obispo, he built the Courthouse and jail (c. 1872-73), schoolhouses, and other public buildings. He built the Ah Louis Store and the Sinsheimer Building.
Walker later moved to Los Angeles, where he was credited with paving some of the first Los Angeles streets and the erection of several downtown buildings, including the Grand Operahouse.4
Walker died in Ventura when on a business trip April 29, 1906.4
1. "Died Suddenly," San Luis Obispo Telegram, May 9, 1906, pg. 1.
2. California Marriages, 1850-1945, via Ancestry.
3. San Luis Obispo Tribune, 30 April 1886.
4. "Old Contractor Dead: Sudden Call of Alfred Walker," Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1906, pg. 115.
